Japan

Tenjin is an awesome part of Fukuoka: Packed with bars, coffee shops and small as well as big shops it is buzzling with people no matter if at night or during the day. On this picture you can see Tenjin Station in the background and the entrance to yet another roofed shopping street. Actually a band was playing there walking through after taking the picture and it must have been quiet famous given the attention it received from the mostly female audience.

In the middle of Fukuoka City you do not only find many temples but also awesome parks and lakes which invite for a brake away from the city buzz. The Ohori Lake is really beautiful with small islands in the middle reachable via nice stone bridges - one of them can be seen in the picture.

Within the beautiful Japanese garden of the Heian Jingu Shrine spans this amazing wooden bridge across the vast lake within.
The shrine itself is already worth visiting with its buildings coloured in orange making for an amazing site but once passing through the entrance to the gardens surrounding the same you step into a different world of beauty and tranquility.

Close to Kyoto Station is the Ryukoku-zan Hongwanji Temple often also called Nishi Hongwanji.
It is the home of the Shinshu Hongwanjii-ha sect whose followers believe that all living beings can attain Buddhahood and enlightenment.

After an ultra fast Shinkansan ride I arrived at Kyoto Station with the Kyoto Tower rising high above the next door Kyoto Hotel.
This picture was taken in between two ventilation blocks of the subway system below.

Kumamoto Castle belongs to the three main castles in Japan together with Himeji and Matsumoto Castle. Kumamoto Castle dates back to 1467 when first fortifications were builtt under orders of Ideta Hidenobo.
This photo was taken in February 2013 on a late afternoon when beautiful small clouds covered the sky behind this magnificent Japanese structure.

A little west of Kyoto, close to the Tenryuji Temple you can walk through a small but very dense bamboo forest.
The picture was taken in February 2014 when it was bitter cold and I was lucky that no other tourists got in the way while taking my pictures.